NYT: Millions of movers reflect polarization

[Velar Fricative]

Neat graphics showing what I already observed happening - since the start of the pandemic (also when covid hit and people were moving like whoa), people are gravitating toward neighborhoods where they fit in politically more and more. Gift link:

www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/10/30/upshot/voters-moving-polarization.html?unlocked_article_code=1.WU4._XL4.CJuHco_OybfX&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

The key point is that (which we also sensed) elected officials feel less inclined to reach over the aisle and work for all of their constituents thanks to political sorting. I think we need to brace ourselves for some surprises since a lot of people moved after the last POTUS election.

[mx27]

I am part of this group. Left a red/purple state and town for a solidly blue state and town. My move was motivated in part by politics though it wasn’t the driving factor (family, diversity, and climate were the main reasons).

[Susie]

I'm really nervous about how these trends will affect the EC outcome this year.

[stuffandthings]

We’ve always lived in blue areas since right after we got married.

HOWEVER. In 2020, when we were house shopping, we ALMOST put in an offer on a house 40 mins away in a reddish area and the primary reason we decided against it was political atmosphere.

@@@@@@@

I didn’t want my kid going to a school where I would have to fight constantly for inclusion and equality. We paid more so we could stay in a blue area even though housing prices are higher.

[leahcar]

We moved from a ruby red area to one that is increasingly purple in 2019. It's a red state- blue city- purple neighborhood. We decided the city and neighborhood mattered a lot to us; we wanted, at minimum, hope at the state level.

Politics played a bigger role in why we left than where we selected to move. Diversity was a huge part of our decision making so I'm guessing that inadvertently influenced things.

[CrazyLucky]

I'm part of this group too. We moved from rural NC to NJ in 2021. When people ask why (because people are always curious why someone would move to NJ), I usually just say we never fit in down south. My NC county voted against same sex marriage 80-20. My 5 year old was told she can't wear a 2 piece bathing suit at daycare. I'm thankful it looks like Mark Robinson's campaign has fallen apart, but the fact that a significant amount of my former neighbors and co-workers will still vote for him is more evidence it was the right decision for me. When I registered my kids for school in NJ, there was a question about whether they identify as female, male, non-binary, or other. That question would have NEVER happened where I lived.
I know a lot of people think you should stay where you are and try to affect change, but I wasn't up for it. I remember in 2016, this board being aghast that some people would patronize a known Trump supporter's business. "Just get your haircut somewhere else." There WAS no one else. They were all Trump supporters.
The county I live in now is purple which makes for some interesting and scary facebook posts, but NJ is still very blue and I'm glad we moved.

[lilac05]

This is yet another one of those things I wish we could discuss in actual conversation. I have too many thoughts to type.

The divide scares me. It’s not good for our country. And yet there’s no easy way for it to really get better, especially after 2022. We’re in Iowa, and as a heterosexual, Christian white woman, I feel it’s my duty to stay here and fight for the rights of the people in our state who don’t have the privilege of being able to pack up and move. But I would not recommend anyone who doesn’t fit a pretty narrow description to move here, and 100% support when people leave to find a place that feels/IS safe for them. The vast majority of the people here would be kind to them in person, but behind their backs, it might be different. And the government certainly isn’t on their side. However, the gap continues to widen and the extreme viewpoints just harden when people don’t know others who are different than them.

It probably helps that I’m in a solidly purple area of this increasingly red state. I’m not giving up hope yet, but I’m not sure how much longer I will fight this fight.

[elleblue]

We moved cross country in 2022, from a purple area in a blue state to a purple area in a blue state so in that way nothing changed for us.

[rubytue]

I’m on of them. I moved about 30 minutes away. But when we were house shopping, we tried to stay where we were (bc we had a boat and it was on the water). And the number of trump flags around kept scaring us away from places. I wasn’t specifically seeking out a bluer area, but didn’t want to live next door to MAGA.

[lust2hart]

Can y'all add @s as needed, please? Thanks!

[ellipses84]

@ adjacent. I see a lot of movement in general. People left cities for more space and to be closer to extended family during the pandemic. People left blue states for less restrictive red states or job opportunities, but typically gravitated to cities or suburbs and might be a little shocked at their politics. They may have thought CA Gov. Newsom is too Liberal and voted R but might be horrified by what TX Gov. Abbot is doing and Roe V Wade being overturned. They might be shocked by the racism they are experience in Idaho or the state of the school system in FL. A blue state Republican might be more aligned with a Red state Democrat than MAGA and they might all hate 🍊.

I know of someone who moved to FL when her elderly parent was dying, she inherited the house, her and her husband were staying living there through the election to vote and then moving away. People who didn’t get their absentee ballots are flying home to vote blue. Many people 18-45, even those who grew up with conservative parents, do not have the same politics and we are a huge voting block now. TX population grew 15+% with transplants. I know people who left NC but it seems like a lot of people are moving to there and to Atlanta and Tennessee. Gerrymandering in red states was already splitting the blue vote for the House and State races.

I’m not too worried about this impacting President or Senate races. We just need turnout and every swing state has the Dem population to do it in the major cities.
Look at the NBC early vote map. By Party, D vs. R, some swing states look close, but there’s more independent voters than I’ve ever seen (mostly GenZ and former Rs) and I think most will vote Harris. They also aren’t accounting for all the Rs voting for Harris. If you look at the Men vs Women, women are outvoting men by @ 10% in every swing state except Nevada.

[livinitup]

I’ve always lived in blue state. Even blue-leaning regions in a blue state. I have always seen and heard absolute garbage from my neighbors and people in my general orbit.

Bigots, racists, misogynists are just so fucking loud.





(I probably shouldn’t complain from what I’ve glimpsed from Pennsylvania- that shit is wild. Or the south. I am reallly sorry for the blue dots in the south.)